by Sierra Cross
“Well, well. It’s not often city magic shows up at my doorstep.” Althea’s dark eyes narrowed at me. Interesting, unlike the vamps who’d ignored me and spoke directly to Matt, she’d apparently decided I was in charge. “What brings you here?” Challenge in her voice. “Other than the desperation I can smell on you.”
“How much for a truth spell?” I said. “Please keep in mind that none of us is Bill Gates.”
Her pursed lips made me hope I hadn’t offended her with that. “Magic costs what it costs,” she said sternly.
And then she named a sum that was a hundred dollars over the amount of stack one and stack two combined.
What choice did we have? We all started digging into our pockets.
When we had counted out all the cash everyone had, down to the last penny, we reached the amount. Ok, that was impressive. Shady, perhaps, but wow.
Althea gathered the money into a dish and placed it on an empty shelf in the bookcase. I gave it one last longing look before turning my attention to her instructions.
“This spell in particular is a coven spell. It will only be as strong as the collective intention behind it.” She pointed her finger at each one of us in turn. “If any of you dissents, it’ll fail—no matter how skilled my magic is. And trust me, I’m skilled.” Her voice was full of challenge and a little condescension. “So take a moment to get on the same page.” Hands on hips.
“Listen, witch,” Liv surprised me by speaking up, full of challenge. “We are the Coven of Fire and we’re fucking awesome. So let’s just get on with the bloodletting.”
Asher smiled at her. “Couldn’t have said it better.”
“Great.” Althea opened an oil cloth wrap and a foul, rotten-earth smell blanketed the room. “Draw your blades,” she commanded, a dried dark bloom—more stamen and stalk than petals—suspended between her fingers. “Each one of you must drop blood on the bloom before it sinks from the surface.”
I gulped. While I was fond of my daggers, I wasn’t so fond of seeing my own blood. Each of us held our hands over the cauldron. Steam seared the soft skin of my wrist. I was the last to drag my blade across my thumb and the pain that flared was probably worse for the anticipation. My blood dripped and sizzled on the blood of my coven mates as the flower was swallowed by the boiling goo.
“This will boil until it’s a tar-like ball.” Now that she’d literally bled us dry, Althea had returned to her pleasant shopkeeper persona. She might as well have been describing a quirky and adorable flower arrangement. “Very flammable, smokey. Cast a dome around the subject so only he inhales it.” She stirred the pot with a long handled wooden spoon as the substance thickened, working up a sweat. “And just to be clear, this spell will get you the subject’s truth. Don’t be confused between that and the unmitigated truth.”
“What?” Was I the only one who thought that? “We just paid you the price of a good used car and you’re not guaranteeing that it’ll work?”
“Oh, it will work.” My anger didn’t fluster Althea in the least. “The subject won’t be able to lie to you. Will be compliant in answering your questions. But there’s always the chance that what they believe isn’t the actual truth.”
“It’s what we need,” Asher assured me. “It’ll work.”
No matter what Asher said, my personal jury was still out about blood magic. I felt its power swell in the cauldron as all the separate ingredients joined. But rather than making my blood sing, it filled me while still leaving me hollow.
Banshee Comics & Games was busier than I expected for late afternoon. Good news was that there were three people working—which would make Leonard’s disappearance a bit less noticeable. Maybe?
I took a deep breath, flipped my hair over my shoulder and got my flirt on. My strut matched the persona I had taken on. Leonard was reprimanding another employee, condescending and rude right in front of customers. She looked up from beneath her blue bangs and eyebrow piercing, biting on a lip ring—I was guessing to keep from going off on the jerk. Leonard must be her boss. I pitied the chick. Leonard made Randy, my awful ex-boss at Sanctum, look warm and fuzzy. I swallowed every bit of revulsion and said, “Da-a-amon,” drawling out his preferred name. “We need to…um…talk.” I batted my lashes.
“Get out of the store. Right now,” he said anger mixed with fear.
“Oh, don’t be like that.” I made puppy dog eyes at him.
By now every head in the store had turned toward us. The blue-haired chick was looking at me like I was all kinds of crazy. Couldn’t blame her. I’d have to be, if I were really throwing myself at that jerk.
“Get out!”
I reached my hand out and ran my fingers up his arm. Even the skin on his scrawny bicep felt greasy. Leonard flinched, then looked at the audience we had.
“Dude, who’s your…um, friend?” the other employee asked.
“She is not my friend,” Leonard said through gritted teeth.
“Well, introduce me so I can be her friend.”
“Sorry, I’m totally into Damon.” Not taking my eyes off Leonard. “About the other night, baby, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about—”
“Cover the register, I’ll be right back.” Leonard grabbed my arm and hauled me to the back office.
“No, he won’t,” I said in a husky voice, aiming my tongue at his ear for all to see. Ew, ew, ew.
Leonard shoved me into the office and slammed the door. “I don’t know what your deal is—” He couldn’t finish his sentence because the transport spellbead Althea graciously included in the price hit the floor and we were engulfed in a cloud of magic.
Leonard’s cheek met the polished oak floor in Asher’s lab. My feet touched down and I leapt back.
“Now!” Liv yelled.
Asher and Liv threw small controlled bursts of flame.
Matt stood at the ready, dagger drawn, a whisper of blue guardian magic on the blade.
Liv aimed her fire at a ribbon of crushed, charred wood that formed a pentagram on the floor.
Asher aimed his at the tar ball at Leonard’s feet. Both ignited simultaneously, a scream seemed to catch in Leonard’s throat. He swallowed and his body calmed. His eyes glazed over.
Smoke billowed up from the tarry truth bomb, but was contained in the field created by the pentagram.
“Sit,” Matt commanded. And Leonard sat in the wooden chair that was next to him.
We all looked on, a little stunned that our plan worked so well.
The pentagram glowed, sending golden sparks harmlessly up into the air. The dome it created held in it the truth spell, looking like smoke caught in the beam of a flashlight. We created this, we were controlling this awesome power. I felt the twining of my coven’s magic, boosting the strength of my own, suddenly sad for all the years I denied my connection to my ancestry.
One Halloween when I was in grade school, Tommy Roberts had gotten sent to the principal’s office for drawing pentagrams all over the chalkboard—implying they were satanic. I knew that people believed that because of the smear campaign against witches that started over a millennium ago. Part of me wanted to stand up and tell the teacher that sort of thinking was oppression. Instead I stood with the rest of the class and stuck my tongue out at Tommy as he was taken from the classroom.
“Alix.” Liv’s urgent voice nudged me back to the present moment. “You need to be on this side, with us.”
I walked around to the front and stood with my coven.
“Who do you work for?” Matt asked.
“Myself,” Leonard says, devoid of any inflection. But said no more.
Matt tried again. “Who hired you to deliver the amulet?”
“A friend.”
“What friend?”
“Wes Bonaventura.”
A thrill ran through the room. Bingo. But getting information this way would take forever.
“Yeah, this is a little too much like water torture.” Asher rolled up his sleeves, revealing his swirling tatto
os. Leonard’s eyes widened. “Let’s take a different approach. Leonard, you little shit, tell us everything you know about the amulet and how you’re involved with it. From the beginning.”
Leonard opened his mouth and his story poured out in a chill monotone. “For almost eight years now, I’ve been novitiate for the vampires.”
I looked to the guys. “Novitiate?”
“Means he was under consideration for membership in the fang club,” Asher said.
“Mage magic is so limited,” Leonard went on. “Becoming a vampire was the only way to have the power I deserved. I started going to Slayers in Bellevue—knew it was a vamp hang out. Met Wes and we became friends.”
“Were you two lovers?” Asher interrupted.
Matt glared at him. “How’s that relevant to the investigation?”
“Oh, it’s not, I’m just curious.”
“Is that what you are, Asher?” Liv said under her breath.
“Power is the only thing that’s ever excited me.” Leonard’s creepy monotone of truth interrupted their exchange of quips. “Wes and I have that much in common. But his dad’s super controlling, never letting Wes do anything on his own. It was like we both had the same problem—we wanted to have more power, to become our own men. He promised to turn me once he had his own money and was able to build his own clan—for protection. But every year he said next year, I needed to learn more, I wasn’t ready, wasn’t worthy.” A subtle note of resentment pushed through the calming effects of the spell.
“Wait, go back.” I suspected Leonard could talk about his fang-envy for hours. “Tell us about the amulet.”
“That thing was the last straw. Wes wanted to sell it to some paranoid witch.” Matt’s arms instinctively wrapped around Asher and pulled him away from the mage. It took a minute, but our warlock regained his composure. The mage droned on. “He needed money—a shit ton of it—to have the lifestyle he wanted. I’d delivered black market items he’d sold before. But this was different. This would be his ticket to freedom.”
That crazy ass vampire did this all for shallow greed. His dream wasn’t even original.
“At first I told Wes I didn’t want any part of it. If I got caught even knowing about that amulet, much less having it in my possession, it was punishable by a long and bloody death. But he promised it was the last thing. He’d turn me after it was delivered. I agreed. That’s when he told me I had to snatch that blood bag.” For the first time his voice broke, not with sorrow or remorse but with anger. “I did that shit for him, and he still didn’t turn me.”
“You kidnapped Bonaventura’s feeder?” Liv asked.
This was playing out like a real-life horror movie. And I hated horror movies.
“Yeah, and it wasn’t easy. She was such a goodie two shoes. Only place she ever went to at night was the ice cream parlor—those Bonaventuras like their meals rich.” A queasy look came over his face. “But part of the sale’s price included activation.”
“How do you activate an anaq mazkehret?” Matt demanded.
Part of me really, really didn’t want to know the answer.
“First you need vampire blood—a lot of it. I was surprised that Wes used his own. To create that kind of power amplification, there also needs to be an equal and opposing force applied. The exact opposite of the evil vampire that the relic came from. The sacrifice of a pure soul—”
“As in, you killed her?” Liv asked, shocked.
“Did Marley know her amulet cost the life of a young woman?” Asher interrupted.
“No, Wes never told her. I was the only one there when he did the deed.” Leonard didn’t seem ashamed of his crime, just grossed out by the memory. “There wasn’t much left of her when Wes was done with her. He made me promise to destroy the body. At least mage magic helped with that. Remember that dumpster fire behind the 7-11?” He laughed to himself. “But the joke’s on him. Thanks to Wes forcing me to study vampire doctrine for eight years, I also knew how to deactivate it. So I kept the girl’s ashes for myself. And I made a copy of the spell for myself.”
I swallowed hard. She was my age, and her family would never know what happened to her.
“Wes risked my life and didn’t give a shit. He started ignoring me when we were at Slayers. Then I met this old Wont guy, like sixty. A regular at the bar, always drunk, a loser, but he never paid for anything. Like they felt sorry for him.”
“Wes’s last flunky, no doubt,” Asher muttered.
“Yeah, for over twenty years.” Leonard seemed surprised that Asher had guessed it. I got the feeling he saw himself as supremely gifted in logic. “Doing the bastard’s dirty work in exchange for being turned—but Wes never did. And he was so far into Bonaventura business no one else would turn him. Guy told me I should hook up with the demons, but at first even they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Called me a vamp wannabe. I knew I’d have to offer them something special to get any cred with them. That’s when I knew I had to get back that amulet, no matter what it took.”
“It was your fucking idea to steal it from Marley?” Asher seethed. “And to kill all those innocent witches.” I put my hand on Asher’s arm. There would be a time for vengeance, but we couldn’t derail this confession. And the blood magic spell wouldn’t last forever.
“Yeah, it was my idea.” The mage seemed proud. “Room full of powerful demons, and I was the only one who knew how to deactivate the amulet and activate it to a new bearer. I picked a fight to get some of Wes’s blood—cost me a busted jaw. I knew the vamp’s blood and the girl’s ashes would allow the demons to take control of the amulet. But I needed a crew to liberate the amulet from the witch. That’s when I thought of Kavon.”
“Who’s Kavon?” Liv asked.
“Crazy fucker who hung out at the bar. The Omni shifter. He was the baddest badass I knew. Perfect to lead the crew. I promised him fifty grand to do a job, and he jumped at the chance before I even told him what it was.” Damn it, I never should have let him get away that day at the Fidei. I silently cursed myself as I listened to the rest of Leonard’s story. “Once I brought him in, the demons sat up and took notice. I didn’t know yet they wanted to use Kavon for a skinsuit, but they sure seemed excited about having an Omni on the team. So much so I had to fight to keep my rightful share of the action. That’s when my mage skills came in handy. That day in Edmonds, the Caedis used me to break the wards—he refused to get out of the van. Protecting his skinsuit and all. He channeled his awesome fucking powers through me.” He was bragging? “Shattered those wards like they were glass. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been an integral part of making it happen.”
“Something about this sordid tale doesn’t add up,” Asher said. “How does the Omni go from being a rough guy in a bar to laying down his life for a Caedis lord?”
Leonard shook his head. “Who knows? That shifter is messed up in the head.”
“Where’s the Omni now?” Matt asked.
“Who knows? You’d think the demons would keep tabs on him but I don’t even think they know. Kavon’s probably off living the high life.”
“What does that mean?” Liv asked.
“He made the demons give him a shit-ton of money—over a million dollars—to be the skinsuit. I mean, what’s going to happen to all that money?” Of course Leonard would be thinking of the money. “I’m the one who brought them the amulet and the Omni. You think they gave me a million bucks? Lately, I’ve been thinking what if I’d just kept the damn amulet? I wouldn’t have to grovel in front of demons then. I’d be more powerful than the most powerful warlock.”
“Too bad, so sad,” Asher said without a hint of sympathy. “Got played by a vampire. Got played by the demons. Whose chump will you be next, I wonder? Gargoyles? A cheeky gang of fae?”
“Wrong, warlock.” Leonard gave a greedy laugh. “I’ll never be anyone’s chump again. I only gave them a handful of the ashes. Kept the rest as an insurance policy. They’re hidden in plain sight.” He sm
irked. “Right on display, but people are too stupid to know what they’re looking at.”
The more Leonard talked, the more I detested him. In this unguarded state, he revealed the workings of his black, mercenary heart.
Fifteen minutes later, Asher was using a spell to magically sweep the last of the pentagram soot from his lab floor. Leonard had stumbled out of here in a rumpled daze, but otherwise intact. He’d probably show up at the comic book shop and be a legend for the sex marathon it looked like he’d just gotten. I figured even he was shrewd enough not to set the record straight.
“Wow, Matt, you were right about humans being oh so innocent,” Asher said. “Good thing we’re above torturing them.”
“There’s no way we can just waltz back to Bonaventura and tell him we know it’s his son.” I say from my reclined position on my loveseat, across the room in the cozy corner.
“Not unless we’d enjoy being the main course for their evening meal,” Asher said. “No way Wes will come clean just on our say so.”
“You’re right,” Matt said. “We need the amulet.”
Liv grimaced. “Which means we need to find the Omni.”
“Even our friendly neighborhood mage who’s all chummy with the Omni doesn’t know how to find him,” Asher reminded us.
“Why can’t we just scry for him?” Liv asked.
“We have no way to narrow the search. No info on his bloodline. No sample of his hair or clothing,” Matt said. Asher stopped sweeping and raised an eyebrow at Matt, but said nothing.
“We’ll have to stake out the Fidei offices,” Asher said. “No piece of cake, that. We absolutely can’t be seen. The only way I know to detect a shifter at a distance is a trip wire spell. And we can’t be caught setting it.”
“We’ll have to do it in shifts,” Matt said, shaking off his mood. “We start first thing in the morning.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
T he spicy, musky scent floated to me, igniting my senses and pulling me from sleep. Sensing his nearness fueled my body’s response. I felt compelled to close the distance between us, not a choice. More like the only possible reaction, to his unspoken command. Dewy sweat glowed on my skin. The heightened receptors in my skin burned as the soles of my feet hit the cold floor—every sensation amplified, alive with desire.